I’ve opened doors for so many, says glad Lawlor
BRENDAN Lawlor believes his participation in this week’s ISPS HANDA UK Championship at The Belfry will open up more opportunities for golfers of all abilities going forward.
The Co Louth ace made history by becoming the first disabled golfer to compete in a European Tour event by teeing it up on the Brabazon this week and will back that up by competing at the Challenge Tour’s NI Open at Galgorm Castle next week too.
Lawlor has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, which is characterised by a shorter stature and limbs, which limits how far he can hit the ball, but that didn’t stop him from recording two birdies at the difficult Belfry layout as he played some impressive golf in his historic appearance.
And despite missing the halfway cut in Sutton Coldfield, Lawlor’s appearance in the event was a massive step forward for golf, and the Carton House ace is positive that this will present more chances for disabled golfers to make their mark on golf’s biggest stage in the future.
“My round today was really good, I felt really relaxed. I got off to a really good start, I was three over after nine, which was quite good,” said Lawlor.
“I thought I played better, I missed a few short putts. It’s a long slog for me out there, I only hit it 250 off the tee, but it was such a great week, I really enjoyed it.
“Aside from that, what happened off the course was a huge momentum for the game and disability golf, and it’s going to open so many doors not just for me, but for everyone in the game and bring more and more people in. That’s what we need at the minute.
“Nobody made me feel out of place. Even on the course when I hit some wayward shots the guys were really nice.”
South Africa’s Justin Walters maintained his first-round lead going into the weekend after backing up his eight-under-par opening round with a one-under 71 on day two to sit nine under overall, but his lead has been cut to one at the halfway stage.
France’s Benjamin Hebert shot a three-under 69 in his second round to lie one back going into the weekend at eight under, with Paul Waring shooting the best round of the day, a five-under 67, to sit third at seven under.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox also fired a 67 yesterday to lie one further back in a group of four players on six under par.
Clandeboye’s Jonathan Caldwell, the only Northern Ireland ace in the field, made the cut on the mark at one over after finishing his first round yesterday — held over after heavy rainfall postponed play on Thursday.
The 36-year-old fired a one-under 71 in his opening round, however he could only record a two-over 74 in his second round and it was only thanks to a birdie at the par-four 18th that he snuck in on the right side of the cut line.
Meanwhile, local interest ended at the Amateur Championship and Women’s Amateur Championship in England yesterday as the final two Northern Ireland players were knocked out after yesterday’s morning session.
On the men’s side of the event at Royal Birkdale, Tom Mckibbin (Holywood) was eliminated at the last-32 stage as he was defeated 4&3 by Barclay Brown (England) in a match in which he trailed for long periods.
Meanwhile, at West Lancashire, Lisburn’s Paula Grant suffered a similar fate in the last-16 as she fell to a one-hole loss to Caitlin Whitehead after the Englishwoman triumphed on the 18th hole in a back and forth clash.
• THE Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Galgorm Castle will now begin a four-week second UK Swing after the European Tour announced three more events on its schedule.
The Scottish Championship, which will be held at Fairmont St Andrews just down the road from the historic Old Course, will be staged from October 15-18 after being confirmed yesterday.
That means the second UK Swing will begin at Galgorm on September 24 and will be directly followed by the Aberdeen Standards Insurance Scottish Open, the BMW PGA Championship and then the Scottish Championship.
There will also be two new back-to-back events in Cyprus starting on October 29 and November 5 respectively, however the Tour has been forced to cancel the Turkish Airlines Open and Nedbank Challenge, two of its annual end of season play-off events, due to the coronavirus.